SYS Blog

By Jasmine Brand, historian, researcher, writer, guest blogger Having a hard time remembering past stories from people in your family? Are you worried about the next generation remembering their heritage? While some people love their family photos and get warm fuzzies, some people struggle reconciling their past relationships and events. Yet, we are […]

By Natalie Miller, Guest Blogger Mold can be found everywhere. Those microscopic furry organisms come in different forms and colours, and they can and do colonize anything – including your home, the contents and tragically, your treasured heirlooms. Mold can cause serious damage and it is particularly dangerous to old leather book bindings and other […]

By Emma Spellman, contributing blogger Preserving Paper: The Fragility of Family History Memories can be very important. They are reminders of people, places and experiences that have meant a lot to us. We reminisce with old friends, tell stories about our past adventures, and treasure the photos, letters and other and documents that remind us or […]

By Katherine Golovinova People collect memorabilia to treasure memories. Sports fans and movie lovers alike treasure such acquisitions and strive to keep the items in pristine condition. No one in their right mind would want to spend thousands of dollars on a ‘Honus Wagner’ baseball card and then let it decay due to lack of […]

A consultation service by a fine art conservator may include, art registry, Insurance evaluations emergency damage claims and restoration and conservation. You may need of an appraisal for an insurance claim, insurance policy needs, estate planning, probate settlement or a collection of documentations. A fine art conservator can work with your insurance company. When a […]

Last week, at the Laguna Arts Festival Lecture series (http://bit.ly/pVVE6C), I spoke as the visiting expert about how to protect and save collectibles, artwork etc. Some of the things we talked about included protecting and saving items from storage problems, http://saveyourstuffblog.com/damaged-art/poor-storaged-causes-damaged-paintings/ taking precautions when shipping, http://www.saveyourstuff.com/blog/save-your-stuff/do-you-pack-and-ship-art-work-and-fragile-items/ aging and falling apart, http://saveyourstuffblog.com/water-damage/liquid-stain-on-lithograph-of-a-woman-by-henri-matisse/ floods and landslides, http://saveyourstuffblog.com/water-damage/plains-indians-encampment-water-damage-in-garage/ fires, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCx-xg4BMYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lCx-xg4BMY … and […]

The following painting was brought into the lab because it had couple complications: It contained several dents and tears towards the middle and in the lower right hand corner and it was also it was cracking badly. These dents and rips should have been avoided if it was taken care of properly! This kind of damage was more likely caused by storing it carelessly and obviously leaning […]

Women’s World Magazine recently interviewed me for information on what can a busy woman do at home, on her own, really quickly, if she spills her morning ‘Joe’ or a glass of liquid on some photos. I mentioned about the process of writing the article a couple of times on my Facebook Page at “Save […]

This painting has a great story I’m sure you’ll find interesting, even in its abbreviated form: Painted in 1903, a Russian artist from St. Petersburg sent this painting to America to be exhibited in 1904 at the St. Louis International Exhibition to celebrate the Louisiana Purchase. An art dealer gathered paintings from his country’s best […]

Consult Professional Conservation Services Before Getting Rid of Art Amazingly, this vintage piece was found flaking and filthy in the garbage! Then the dumpster diver who found the item, who obviously thought it wasn’t worth much, gave it to a restorer who made a inept attempt to do a “restoration.” This consisted of an abundant application of wax to […]